Independence of a Hero
by HP-DG-SB-NR-AG-HA-TD-KB-RR-AJ
Summary: Harry Potter / Rowena Ravenclaw pairing story.  I have adopted this story from it's original creator with his express permission. I have made a few changes to the first chapter, but it might not be noticeable.  I'll work harder to make it different. HP/RR
1. Chapter 1 The Missing Link

**Summary**: Realization dawns on Harry following the discovery of the contents of the prophecy. Intent on running away to train, he is unexpectedly thrust a thousand years into the past. Can Harry keep the veil of secrecy over the future while planning Voldemort's demise or will is the task one too many for the Boy-Who-Lived? Follow him on a perilous journey of love, hate, and justice in the "Independence of a Hero." An Egyptian Flame production. Taken over by HP-DG-SB-LL-KB-AJ-TD-HA-NT-RR.

**Chapter 1: The Missing Link**

The first week of the summer passed like a blur to Harry, all that he was thinking about was his deceased godfather. The emptiness filled his soul as another person close to him was taken away, all because he was foolish enough to follow a false vision. The incident in the Department of Mysteries was still clear in his mind, as if mocking him for being alive every second of everyday since his returned to his relatives. Worst of all was that Dumbledore refused to relocate him anywhere else, claiming he was safe from Death Eaters and their master Voldemort.

What about his own mental health? Did Dumbledore think that by keeping secrets from him he'd be safe? In addition, when he returned to Dumbledore's office after the battle, he was kind enough to decide to reveal the prophecy to him just right after his godfather died.

'_I would have studied harder and applied myself to the Occlumency lessons with Snape if I had known the reason for it' _thought Harry bitterly. The Occlumency lessons were a disaster. There was no doubt about that. When Snape caught him looking in his Pensieve, he saw a memory of a younger Snape being humiliated by James Potter, which made him resent the fact that his father was a bully. Harry hated feeling helpless or trapped, which was the main feeling inside him after he heard the prophecy from Dumbledore.

How do they expect him to defeat Voldemort? He is only almost sixteen years old with not enough knowledge to defeat a wizard who spent his lifetime studying and learning dark magic. He sighed and decided to go to the park to have some fresh air. He passed the Dursleys, who were watching T.V and were ignoring him completely after the warning from the Order members at King's cross-station. He was walking past a few houses when he heard a woman whispering to her neighbour.

"Did you hear about the scientist who moved to Magnolia Crescent? He's a lunatic, I am telling you. He kept talking about creating a time machine," said the woman to her neighbour disdainfully. Harry raised an eyebrow but kept walking until he reached the park and sat down, thinking about what was in store for him.

He closed his eyes, relaxing for a little while and cherishing the silence that surrounding him. It was only after a few minutes that he heard someone's footsteps near him. He opened his eyes in alert and fingered his wand, which was in his pocket, and kept quiet. He sat patiently, waiting for the person to come near and hoping it wasn't a Death Eater or an Order member as he didn't want to talk to either.

It was a few moments when the person appeared a few metres from Harry and sat down on a bench near him. He was a short man who appeared to be in his fifties. He had white hair, clear blue eyes, and he was talking to himself, muttering strange things that Harry couldn't help but overhear.

"What is the missing link? What do I need to make the machine work? Everything is calculated and the equations are stable but there is something missing. There must a failure in the equation of…," the man kept arguing with himself. Harry watched amused as the man argued until Harry had enough and went to the man.

"If you relax, you might find the answer sir," Harry said quietly. It was ironic, since Harry himself never found the answer to his dilemma, relaxing or otherwise. The man looked at Harry then shook his head and extended his hand. "Robert Anderson, I'm a scientist."

"Harry Potter. It's nice to meet you Mr. Anderson," said Harry quietly, shaking the man's hand. The man motioned for him to sit down on the bench next to him.

"I cannot relax, not when I'm close to finding an answer to my problem," exclaimed the man, frustrated with the lack of answer. Harry looked sympathetically having experienced the feeling of helplessness many times before.

"Do you like physics, Harry?" the scientist asked conversationally. Harry shook his head since his only Muggle education had only lasted until he turned eleven. They talked for a while about anything and everything, and Harry got to know the man better.

The sun was considerably lower in the sky when Harry excused himself and walked back to the Dursley's home. Fortunately, he had no schoolwork since they would be choosing the subjects for their NEWTs during the summer. Harry decided that being an Auror fell in the category of working for the ministry of magic, which was corrupted from the minister to the lowest clerk. He decided that he must check to see the options available to him other than being an Auror and to do that; he needed to write Hermione a letter.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Firstly, I want you to know that I am very sorry for what happened in the Departments of Mysteries. I should have heeded your warning and stayed at Hogwarts and you were almost killed in the process. I am also sorry for snapping and shouting at you the whole year when you did nothing but try to help me. I was stressed with everything happening around me and with Umbridge's actions against me; it pushed me over the edge. Moreover, I wanted to thank you for sticking by me through everything that happened since we arrived at Hogwarts. You are the best friend anyone could ever ask for, thank you for being there for me. _

_I also wanted to ask you if you have the book that contained the job options since I have decided against being an Auror. Working for the ministry is not what I have in mind for my future. _

_Your friend,_

_Harry_

Satisfied with the letter, Harry tied it to Hedwig's leg and opened the window for her to fly into the distance.

"This is for Hermione, girl," Harry said softly, rubbing her feathers. Hedwig nipped his finger affectionately then took off through the open window. Harry watched his owl fly away and sighed, wishing for the freedom of soaring through the sky.

From the first day at Privet Drive, Harry had studied his old school books repeatedly until he memorized every detail. The studying helped him keep his mind from thinking about the death of his godfather.

He slept a few hours every day, waking up screaming with nightmares of his godfather falling through the veil, which brought his thoughts back to the prophecy. He realized that he won't do Sirius any good by crying every night and his godfather wouldn't have wanted him to feel guilty. With that, Harry vowed revenge on everybody responsible for the death of his godfather.

Harry was reading his fifth year transfiguration book when a strange looking owl flew through his window, settling on the chair in front of Harry. Harry untied the letter and opened the seal, which was strangely familiar to him but he couldn't place where he saw it before. He shrugged and took out the letter and started reading.

_Mr. Harry J. Potter,_

_In accordance to the Last Will and Testament of Sirius Black, you are requested at the reading of his will on the 16th of July at Gringotts bank in Diagon alley at 9 a.m. Please note that failure to show up will result in forfeiting the inheritance to Mrs. Narcissa Black-Malfoy and Bellatrix Black Lestrange. If you drop two blood drops on this letter, it will turn to a Portkey to Gringotts at the mentioned time and it will take you directly in front of our bank._

_Smicklehook,_

_Gringotts bank._

Harry looked at his calendar and realized that the will was to be read the next read for a few hours until he was too tired to continue and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He found himself in the same repetitive dream. This time, Harry noticed something was wrong with Bellatrix Lestrange. Her eyes were red for a minute but as Sirius fell through the veil, they changed back to violet. It was the first time that he'd noticed the change in eye color. He woke up panting and turned the light on, taking in what he saw.

Was Bellatrix Lestrange a metamorphmagus? Tonks was one and she was half a Black. He sighed tiredly and decided that it was no use to go back to sleep, seeing that he slept for three hours. He changed out of his sweaty clothes and grabbed his transfiguration book and continuing his studying. After a few hours of reading, Hedwig flew through the window with a package and a letter from Hermione.

_Dear Harry,_

_Don't blame yourself for what happened in the department of Mysteries, it was our decision to come with you and we knew the risks. It was my fault that the curse hit me and I did not try to dodge it so don't blame yourself for that either. You know that if you need to talk, I'm here for you and if your scar hurts, please tell Dumbledore. I have sent you the book you asked for, along with a few books for you to prepare for the NEWTS_

_Love,_

_Hermione_

_PS: Did you get your O.? I hope I don't fail in any subjects_

'_Fail?'_ though Harry amusedly. '_If Hermione ever failed in something, then nobody would pass it in the first place.'_ He looked at the clock and saw that it was 7 am. He had two hours before the will reading so he decided to shower. He went to the bathroom and thankfully, the Dursley's were not up yet so there was no need to rush.

He relaxed as the water ran down his body, relieving him of some stress. Half an hour later, he exited the bathroom and went to his room. He threw on the best-looking hand-me-downs he owned, resolving to buy himself some new clothes. He was ready to go but he had an hour and a half to spare so took out his charms book and started reading and memorizing again.

He kept reading until it was 3 minutes to nine. He pricked his finger with a pin, drawing drops of blood in the parchment and readied himself to leave. The three minutes passed quickly and Harry felt a tug on his navel before disappearing from his room with nothing but his wand.

After appearing in front of the huge white building of Gringotts, Harry entered and headed for a nearby goblin. He showed him the letter and the goblin motioned for him to follow. They walked through a strange door on the side to a hall which was filled with paintings of some prestigious goblins. Harry ignored the paintings and kept walking behind the goblin until they reached an office.

Harry entered and was impressed with the well-decorated room. The wall behind the desk was made of white marble, which was adorned with two portraits of important looking goblins. The sidewalls were made of other strange material and on it hung two swords and some fancy looking shields. Harry's sight finally settled on the goblin sitting behind a mahogany desk with some papers in front of him.

"Welcome to Gringotts Mr. Potter," said the goblin, sitting behind the desk as the other left the office. "I'm Silverhook and I will be in charge of the Black will reading today. Please have a seat." Harry sat down in the chair offered to him and the goblin took out an envelope from his desk and gave it to Harry. Harry opened the seal and read, the grief coming back full force as he read.

**LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF SIRIUS BLACK **

_I, Lord Sirius Black, Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, hereby declare this as my last will and testament. I leave my godson, by the name of Harry James Potter, the entire Black fortune and assets and hereby declare him my heir, and head of the Black family._

_Lord Sirius Black. _

_Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black_

"You will be the Head of the Black family as soon as you sign these papers," said Silverhook, presenting the inheritance papers. Harry was presented a blood quill, which reminded him of Umbridge and her detentions. He calmed himself down and signed the papers, a feeling of guilt filling him as he officially received his deceased godfather's money.

The goblin gave him another paper to sign which Harry gave a look of uncertainty.

"These are emancipation papers prepared by your deceased godfather," said Silverhook, giving the papers to Harry. It made Harry smile for the first time since his godfather died as he signed the emancipation papers, giving him adult rights.

"Since you signed the emancipation papers, you are now the Head of the Potter family and are allowed control of your family vaults," said Silverhook calmly. "You are also considered an adult in the wizarding world, so you can practice magic, are able to have an Apparating license, vote, and every other privileges and responsibilities of an adult."

"Thank you Silverhook and please call me Harry," replied Harry smiling slightly and extending his hand. The goblin looked shocked for half a second then shook Harry's hand.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you Harry," said Silverhook. He presented Harry with a card that looked like a Muggle credit card. "This is used by the old families to large purchases. Are you familiar with the Muggle credit card?" Harry nodded. "It works the same but for both wizarding and Muggle shops."

Harry nodded his head, took the card, and left the office. He decided to go shopping for clothes, books and other stuff that he would need to start training. He vowed to have revenge for Sirius and kill Voldemort even if it cost him his life. He exited the bank and headed for his first stop, which was a trunk shop.

"How can I help you, young man?" asked the man behind the counter. Harry turned and replied, "I need a sorcerer's trunk." The man's eye widened and he approached Harry quickly. A sorcerer's trunk was the same trunk the fake Mad Eye Moody had in his fourth year. It was equipped with a bedroom, bathroom, duelling room (practice room), potions room, and a regular wardrobe room.

"Are you sure, young man? It is very expensive and there are many cheaper school trunks," replied the man. Harry rolled his eyes and took out his Gringotts card, which made the man hurry to the back to get the trunk. He returned with the trunk and placed it in front of Harry.

"That would be 6000 galleons, young sir," said the shop manager. Harry gave him his Gringotts card and signed his name. He shrunk his new trunk, put it in his pocket, and exited the shop and headed for Flourish and Blotts. He entered the shop and started collecting every advanced book he thought he would need on Duelling, Defence, Transfiguration, and Charms. He collected about 300 books, which made the woman on the counter almost faint. They cost him about 15000 galleons and he put them all in his new trunk.

He did not find anything related to Occlumency and Legilimency since they were frowned upon in the wizarding world. His next stop was Madame Malkins where he bought new school robes, two duelling robes and many everyday robes. It was the first time that he would wear new clothes and not the ones previously owned by his whale of a cousin. After purchasing the robes, he thanked the woman and exited the shop.

He looked at the sign before him which read 'Knockturn Alley' and shrugged before proceeding into the alley. He passed by many shops before coming to a bookstore. He slid into the shop and decided to look around for anything helpful. The only books he was interested in were a book on Occlumency and Legilimency, a book on talents and two basic Dark Arts books.

'_It wouldn't hurt to know what I'm up against,' _thought Harry as he purchased the books and left the shop. He was walking back towards Diagon Alley when he noticed a shop that was almost hidden from sight if you weren't looking clearly, and it was a wand shop. He needed another wand in case his other wand was taken from him or he was disarmed in anyway so he entered the shop.

The shop was dusty and there were no wands in sight, only cores and wood. The man stood up and approached Harry, who was still standing by the door looking around in confusion and disgust at some of the cores.

"Are you going to stand there or come inside?" growled the voice of the man.

"I need a wand and I need to lift the tracking spell off my main one," replied Harry firmly, glaring at the man.

"Follow me, then," said the wand-maker and walked to the back of the store. He came back with a potion and handed it to Harry.

"Leave your wand in this potion for a few minutes and the tracking spell will be lifted. For your custom wand, you have to choose the wood and core," said the man, pointing to his collection. "Pass your hand over each wood and tell me which one you feel most comfortable with."

Harry passed his hand over each wood until he found a strong connection to two woods and he looked at the wand maker in confusion. The wand maker told him that it was unusual but not unheard of to have two different woods, in this case it was yew and holly, opposite woods for yew was the Tree of Death and holly was the Tree of Life. Harry repeated the process for the cores and again felt the pull of three. The wand maker shuddered as he picked up one of the ingredients.

"Nundu Heartstring," breathed the man. "This is a powerful wand core on its own; it has been a really long time since anyone has had that used in a wand. It is said that it enhances the combat magic of the wand and user."

Harry groaned, why couldn't he be normal? The man picked the next ingredient with a shaking hand and put it with the Nundu Heartstring in front of him.

"This is a Chaos Storm Dragon scale. It is almost impossible to come by and a very powerful ingredient. It increases the spell casting power of user. When used in a wand, the user holding the wand becomes more resistant to magic when being hit by spells; it takes more than five stunners to have an effect on you. I cannot ever recall having to use this core before." exclaimed the man, who looked ready to faint.

"This last core is an Ice Phoenix feather. Very powerful, more so than the other two cores, it has never chosen someone before you. It enhances the user's abilities and makes him capable of communicating with beasts. There are other properties other than that, but I'll let you figure them out on your own." The wand maker had a bright twinkle in his eyes, "Yes this will be one of the most powerful wands that I've had to craft."

The man applied many spells with his wand on the woods and cores, making them fuse with each other. A few minutes later, he presented a black wand to Harry who took it with awe. The power surge that coursed through him was nothing like he ever felt before, as raw power rush from his magical core to his wand and back.

After admiring his new wand for a few minutes, Harry turned to the man.

"Do you have wand holsters?" Harry asked, satisfied with his new wand. The man nodded his head, took several types of wand holsters and displayed them in front of Harry.

"These are from a Hungarian Horntail hide. It's spelled against summoning and disarming spells," the man pointed at one of the holsters. It was a beautiful black one and Harry decided on buying a pair. "It will merge with your skin as soon as you put it on and if you want to summon it from the holster, just will it out with a flick of your wrist."

"How much do I owe you?" Harry asked putting on the holsters. The holsters disappeared as he put both wands.

"200 galleons for the wand, potion and holsters, young sir," said the man and Harry gave him the money and exited the shop. He entered Diagon Alley and went through the Leaky Cauldron into the Muggle world. He took a cab to the nearest clothes shop as he needed Muggle clothes.

He arrived 15 minutes later to a shop and paid the driver with Muggle money he transferred before leaving Gringotts and entered the shop. A young woman approached him quickly asking him, "Can I help you?"

"I need a new wardrobe," replied Harry blushing slightly. The woman's eyes lit up and she nodded her head in excitement. Two hours later, Harry left the shop exhausted, about 6000 pounds poorer but very happy and satisfied with his new clothes.

He took a cab back to Privet drive, arriving at 6 pm. He went to his room and unloaded everything in his old trunk, putting them in his new one with the exception of Dudley's clothes, which were sitting on the floor in a pile. Harry took out his new wand and whispered, "_Incendio._"

The power he felt from the wand was unbelievable and the spells did not even leave ashes of the clothes on the floor which Harry was grateful for. He took out the potion and immersed his old wand in it, waiting for a few minutes. The wand glowed red then back to normal, indicating that the tracking spell was lifted.

He tried a few spells with his old wand, since he had to practice control with his new wand before using it frequently. After trying the spells, he read about in his old books, he opened the book about rare talents and began to read. The book was interesting and Harry read until he was exhausted and very tired, so he went to sleep.

* * *

><p><em>He was in the Riddle's house, in a cell where a very familiar person was being held. Bellatrix Lestrange was chained to a wall and was surprisingly crying. Harry's scar burned and Voldemort entered the room, followed by Rudolphus Lestrange, a woman he had never seen before and Wormtail. <em>

"_My dear beautiful Bella," hissed Voldemort. "It is time for your yearly Imperius potion."_

"_Oh my dear wife is crying," mocked Rudolphus condescendingly. "Crying for the mutt you killed?"_

_Bellatrix was shaking from crying and fear. One of the advantages of the imperious potion that made it very powerful and forbidden was that it only needed to be applied once a year; it was far more powerful than the imperious curse ever was. They kept dosing her from her sixteenth birthday when she refused to marry Rudolphus and serve Voldemort._

"_Why are you doing this?" she sobbed. "Isn't it enough that you made me torture people and kill my own family? What more do you want from me?" _

_Voldemort pointed his wand at her and hissed, "Crucio."_

_She was tortured until she was in no condition to move, and Rudolphus made her swallow the potion. Her eyes flashed red for a second then back to blank violet eyes._

Harry woke up shaking from the pain of the Cruciatus and stunned at what he'd observed. He never would have thought that Bellatrix Lestrange would be under Imperius, but that explained the change in her eye colour in the Department of Mysteries. He opened one of the books he'd bought named '_Most Potente Potions'_ and searched for the Imperius potion. He only found information about the potion and its side effects, but he did not find the directions to make it or its antidote.

**Imperius potion: **

**Use: **It is perhaps one of the most dangerous potions invented. It is used to make the victim's submit to the user's will. The user puts drops of his blood into the potion before applying it by 20 minutes. It lasts a year, which is a very long time for the person applying the potion to make the victim do anything.

**Symptoms: **Change of eye colour, which happens when the victim is trying to fight the potion, and coughing of blood every 12 hours.

Harry cursed Voldemort for ruining everyone's life. He was too angry to work on Occlumency so he decided to leave the Dursley's house. He shrunk his new trunk, put it in his pocket, and searched for anything he would ever need. Finding none, he exited his room and went out of the house.

* * *

><p>Harry walked for a few minutes when someone came out of a house that he passed across and called his name.<p>

"Harry," shouted the scientist, Robert Anderson. Harry rolled his eyes and turned to the man. Robert reached Harry and shook his hand, smiling at him.

"Hey Harry. Why don't you come in for tea?" said Robert. Harry was about to protest but the man dragged him inside. Harry readied himself in case it was a trap and was led inside the house.

It was a simple house with the basic living necessities, nothing too fancy or abnormal. It seemed to Harry that most of the scientist's money was spent on something else, rather than furniture or fancy carpets. Robert took him to a lab of some sorts and standing in the middle was a strange looking machine.

"This is the machine I was arguing with myself about, Harry," said Robert wryly. "However, unfortunately, there is something missing that I don't know of. It would have been the greatest achievement in the world for science, but the officials at the research centre kicked me out, saying that I was a waste of resources."

Harry was looking at the machine, trying not to look bored and was trying to stop himself from commenting. He was nice to the man but he hated wasting his time with nonsense. Harry was about to turn and leave when pain from his scar brought him to his knees. Unknown to him, his aura flared and raw power went everywhere destroying glasses but when it came to the machine, everything in the room exploded and darkness embraced Harry.


	2. Chapter 2: Forged Friendships

Disclaimer; I do not own any character, feature or whatnot from the world of Harry Potter. It's all J.K.R's; don't send lawyers after me please.

A/N: Do not expect large changes to some of the chapters I will be posting. I'm going to try and keep some of the original work but I'll be changing a few things, the only real change in the first chapter was the wand at the wand crafter's, just thought I'd let those of you who haven't caught the change yet. Please note that I have obtained the original author's permission to adopt this story, so please don't flame me for it.

Ok, I know that this author's note is getting long, but all this has to be said before I forget to do it. I moved the rating up to M to stay safe, so expect swearing, gore and all that fun stuff, and later on expect sexual situations, I'm not sure if it'll stay implied happenings or be somewhat or totally explicit, I'll post a warning above the appropriate chapters. I hope you all can find the changes I made to this chapter, if your aren't sure, just read the original chapter and mine side by side to find the differences, five points per right answer :P. Anyways, enough of my ramblings and onto the next chapter!

**Chapter 2: Forged Friendships**

Harry's eyes fluttered open and everything was blurry. He could feel the soft bed he was sleeping on and the very comfortable pillow his head was resting on.

'_Wait a minute,' _though Harry, '_Pillow?' _

He tried to sit up straight but his body was in so much pain that he fell back on the bed again.

"Relax," said a voice reassuringly. The voice was unfamiliar but Harry was too tired to do anything about it. The last thing he remembered was pain in his scar and being dragged somewhere.

"My glasses," said Harry weakly. A shape appeared in his field of vision with something in its hand.

"Drink this potion," said the shape in front of him.

"What is it?" asked Harry weakly but suspiciously. The man in front of him chuckled softly and replied, "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have waited until you were conscious. It's a healing potion for your vision, although I don't know why you haven't used it before."

Harry shrugged and sat up weakly, taking the vial from the hand of the person in front of him and gulping it down in one go. Harry felt as if something cold was put in his eyes, but after a few minutes, the feeling subsided. He felt his eyes water for a minute, which made him close his eyes. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and was able to see clearly.

"Thank you," said Harry gratefully, observing the person in front of him. He was a boy around his age with black hair that reached his shoulders, and his eyes were a lighter shade of green than Harry's was. He could easily pass for Harry's twin except that Harry was thin, malnourished, and short while the other boy had an athletic body, toned muscles, and was very well fed.

"Where am I?" asked Harry, finally remembering the incident with the scientist. He hoped that Robert was okay, but as he looked around the room, it wasn't anything like Harry had ever seen. The walls were a light blue; the bed he was resting on was silver and green, reminding Harry of Slytherin's colours. The boy sat down on a chair beside Harry's bed and began to talk.

"You are in my house. I was reading a book when a bang echoed through the foundations of my house and then I found you," said the boy conversationally. Harry didn't say anything and motioned for the boy to continue. "You've been asleep for the past three days and were on the brink of death, but thank Merlin I had healing potions. Your owl is flying outside the house and your trunk is downstairs."

"Thank you for saving my life," said Harry gratefully, extending his hand to the other boy. "My name's Harry."

"It was my pleasure, Harry," the boy said, smiling. "I'm Salazar. Salazar Slytherin."

It was as if someone has poured freezing cold water over Harry's head, trying to wake him up from a dream. However, Harry knew that this was not a dream, and that the blasted time machine had worked. Apparently, magic was the missing link in Robert's equation, which was a good thing. The bad thing is that the machine was destroyed before Harry lost conscious, so it would mean that Harry had to find another way to go back to his time.

Salazar noticed the colour leaving Harry's face and misunderstood the sign for fear. He sighed heavily and tried to think of something to say to the boy in front of him. Salazar knew that everybody was afraid of his family, since they produced evil wizards faster than a bird could fly. It was the same reason that led Salazar to pack his things, take a _lot_ of money and leave. It was a year ago that these events happened which led him to leave and look for another house away from his family, who cared less that the boy packed his things and left.

His brother, Thanatos Slytherin, was the perfect boy for them. He had excelled in everything and he was now married to a woman from a pureblood family. Although Salazar was exceedingly more powerful than his brother, he hid the fact very well.

Salazar also knew that if his family were aware that he was more powerful than their perfect Thanatos, they wouldn't have let him leave. All the same, he hated torturing people for fun or practicing magic on muggles because they were without it.

"I know that my family produces evil wizards, Harry. But that's the reason I left them in the first place," Salazar said sincerely. "I don't want to be evil and I don't want to torture innocent people. This is why I live alone in this house."

Harry looked at Salazar strangely, before he understood what Salazar took his silence for and grinned slightly. He shook his head and replied, sitting up in his bed. "I'm not afraid of you, Salazar. But it is the fact that I don't have a way to get back to my home is what was bothering me in the first place."

Salazar sighed in relief. Finally, someone was not afraid of him because of his family. Everywhere he went, everybody looked at him with fear in their eyes that Salazar might attack them, which made his life a living hell.

"Where are you from?" asked Salazar. "I don't think it's impossible for you to go back. Don't you know how to Apparate?"

Harry decided that there was no need to hide the truth from Salazar, since he needed help to find a way of going back to his own time. Thus, he decided to come clean with the truth and just get it over with.

"I'm from the future, Salazar. About a thousand years to be exact," replied Harry grinning, waiting for what he said to sink in. He didn't have to wait for long because Salazar fainted.

It was a few hours later when Salazar woke up to a grinning Harry. It took another hour for Salazar to accept that his new friend was indeed from the future. However, after he finally accepted that Harry time travelled, he began asking him about the future, which Harry kept his mouth shut about.

"Come on, Harry. Please tell what interesting things will happen in the future."

"For the last time Salazar, it could change the future and I will no longer exist if my future was whipped out," said Harry to the other boy. Salazar took Harry on a tour of the house, which was not much but it was nice. It contained a potions lab, a library, a kitchen, and other rooms.

Harry and Salazar sat down and talked about their lives, their past, but Harry left out things that could change the future in any way, like the name Hogwarts, or anything that Salazar might recognize.

"By the way, how are we talking the same language? I'm talking modern English but you wouldn't know," asked Harry perplexed.

"It's the wonder of a translating spell, Harry."

He told Salazar that there was a dark lord in his time that killed Harry's parents and tried to kill Harry when he was a baby. He told him about growing up at the Dursley's household, and how they treated him. Salazar sneered as Harry continued his tale, an expression of revulsion settling on his aristocratic face.

"Why would they treat you like that," asked Salazar frowning. Nobody should treat their family members like that.

'_Well, maybe mine would,' _thought Salazar bitterly.

"They're muggles, Salazar. They hate anything to do with magic," explained Harry and continued with his story.

He told him about going to a magical school, which made Salazar's eyes light up at the idea. It wouldn't change anything since Salazar had to build Hogwarts with the other founders anyway. He told him about risking his life to save the school from the dark lord every year but he left out what actually happened or what he saved the school from, shuddering at the thought of the basilisk.

Harry told Salazar the prophecy, something that he had kept from his best friends, Ron and Hermione. He felt as if a burden was lifted from his shoulders and he could finally think clearly about it without having to suffer its knowledge alone.

Salazar sat thinking about what he heard from Harry about his life. He wondered why the fates were messing with his new friend's life. Salazar asked Harry about the way he time-travelled and how he came to be here. Harry had told him that it was his magic reacting to a Muggle invention, which was the cause of him being sent thousand years in the past. He finally told Salazar about being a Parselmouth.

"Parselmouth?" said Salazar excited. "Are you sure you're not my descendant?"

"No Salazar, I'm not your descendant," assured Harry his friend. He didn't want to tell him that Voldemort was of the Slytherin bloodline. Salazar already hated his family for producing many dark lords in the past but to know that the most powerful dark in history was his own descendant would devastate him.

"Only my father, my brother, and I can speak Parseltongue. Only the males in the Slytherin family can speak Parseltongue," explained Salazar eagerly. The Slytherin family had prided themselves on being able to speak to snakes. It was perhaps one of the traits that had made the Slytherin family extremely feared, as they controlled deadly snakes, basilisks or even dragons.

Salazar told Harry about his life, his past, and his family. He told him how he grew up with his family's expectations of surpassing his brother and being a great dark wizard. He told him how his family treated him when he refused to torture an innocent Muggle for fun.

Harry sat captivated by the tale that no one ever knew. As Harry heard about Salazar's life, he vowed to never fully trust anything in a book or trust the history records as much as Hermione does. Harry felt strangely peaceful as he shared his whole life story with Salazar, something that he had not accomplished with the little bits that he'd told Ron and Hermione.

They understood each other better, their friendship was growing fast and strong. It was the first time that Harry found a true friend in Salazar and their trust in each other grew every second.

"We have to get you into shape then, Harry. You have an evil idiot to fight and kill," said Salazar sincerely. Harry, for the first time since Sirius had died, smiled.

"It's about time I did something about it, Sal," replied Harry, a glint of determination in his eye.

"Sal?" asked Salazar, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," replied Harry grinning. "I can't go round saying Salazar all day, can I? It's too long!"

"Why not," shrugged Salazar playfully, and returned the grin.

* * *

><p>For the first few months of his stay with Salazar, both of them began to run through the woods on one side of Salazar's house. They performed push-ups and sit-ups and ran every morning, with the time increasing every day. Salazar would force Harry to drink horrible tasting Bone Strengthening, Nutrition, and other similar healing potions to undo the malnourishment and abuse effects that Harry suffered from because of the Dursleys. He had already started to gain some height and shoulder broadness that he should have had.<p>

On the other side of Salazar's house was a village where Salazar and Harry bought things to eat. Harry didn't want to live on Salazar's money so he offered his services to help anyone in the village, either helping with some work on a farm or taking care of a pet, child, or any other work he would find. They were suspicious of him at first but soon, they warmed up to him and welcomed his help.

He even helped a black smith with making swords and knives, which he found was a very hard work to do. The people in the village liked him a lot but they were still wary of Salazar, although not as much as before. Salazar supplied the village with healing potions in exchange of things he required.

During these months, Harry's body began to quickly develop from being fed normal meals everyday with the potions added in his diet, and running many miles with Salazar, as well as working with the blacksmith, he continued to grow and develop into the 16 year old boy he was supposed to be. He discovered life as he lived with Salazar and performed normal labour tasks like taking care of the garden, cooking, and many other things without the slave-driving presence of Aunt Petunia.

Salazar had a small library that he nicked from his family before leaving to which Harry added his books. They began the first subject of study in their quest for knowledge, which was Occlumency.

When Harry first tried to study Occlumency, he had failed to empty his mind. He realized that Snape had truly done great damage to his natural shields and though it was repairable, it made Harry's hatred for the man increase.

It took a lot of arguing as Harry continually tried to empty his mind from thought until Salazar had managed help him. Salazar would conjure a white sheet with a black dot surrounded by green ones and tell Harry to stare at the black dot only.

Harry tried to protest but a glare from Salazar managed to do the work. Salazar himself studied Occlumency with Harry but he was able to clear his mind from thoughts quicker than Harry was able to, though he had some troubles with clearing the thoughts of his family.

It took a lot of time for Harry to be able to clear his mind from thoughts and emotions, but in the end, he succeeded in doing so. Between the physical work and their work on Occlumency during the first few months, Harry and Salazar achieved good results.

They managed to organize their minds in a short time, succeeding in the second step of Occlumency and Salazar began to teach Harry one of the things he was exceedingly good at, swordsmanship. The other good thing that Salazar was brilliant at was potions.

Swordsmanship required the improvement of discipline of one's mind, which was why Salazar had waited until Harry learned Occlumency before teaching him any basics and techniques.

They ate, studied, practiced, and did everything together. When anyone watched them, they would just assume that they were brothers. They studied everything they could get their hands on, whether it was potions, spells, charms, Legilimency, Occlumency, runes or rituals.

They managed to master Occlumency after a lot of hard work and began their studies on Legilimency, which was a lot easier with a disciplined mind. Harry taught Salazar every modern spell, charm, or potion he knew from his time while Salazar taught Harry what he did not know of the 'past' spells, which greatly outweighed his modern list.

Salazar taught him about potion ingredients and how and when to put them together, but Harry only learned a certain amount from Salazar and preferred using spells. Both of them were outstanding duellers, but neither of them was able to beat the other. They would fly together on their brooms around Salazar's house and woods, enjoying themselves despite their hardships.

It was only after a year of Harry's arrival that they managed to finish and master every book in their combined library and Harry had grown strong with a sword, but far from mastering the art. Harry and Salazar celebrated their 17th birthdays together, since Salazar was born on the 1rst of August.

Thanks to the healthy diet along with all the potions and all the physical labour that he had undergone either in the village or with Salazar; Harry was rewarded with a very athletic body. Toned muscles, increased height, broader shoulders, and a sturdy frame showed off his wiry athletic body, instead of a body builder who conditions himself to have bulging muscles, hindering his speed and agility, Harry had added some muscle but had toned it and kept his body agile and speedy. Even his friends wouldn't be able to recognize him.

They exchanged gifts and Harry was surprised and also amused to see that it was the same gift which he had given Salazar, though not the same design. Both of them got the other a magical sword, which was very expensive but since Harry helped the man with the work, he got it at a reasonable price.

The sword Salazar gave Harry was an intricately sculptured solid metal with a dragon's head pommel with a ruby in its open jaw that Harry had previously seen in Salazar's things, on the blade there were runes that spelled out his name next to the hilt of the sword. However, the sword Harry gave Salazar had a snake head pommel with an emerald inside its open mouth, which Harry had to work very hard for with the blacksmith to get as with his own, Harry had added the runes to spell out Salazar's name on the blade by the hilt.

"Wow," both of them said at the same time, and then laughed.

"What did you do to get one of these, Harry?" asked Salazar teasing. He knew that Harry worked very hard the last few months for the blacksmith, but he was touched that Harry had worked extra hard just to get him this sword.

"Just made over 500 swords and 200 knives," said Harry shrugging, "It was no big deal." Harry was surprised when Salazar pulled him into a brotherly hug, but it took only a second to return the hug. Both of them had become the other's family in the past year and looked out for each other.

"It is a big deal, Harry. No one had ever done anything like this to me," said Salazar sincerely. "Thank you."

"Thank_ you_ Salazar. You saved me from dying, took me into your home, and gave me the most important thing in my life, a family," replied Harry sincerely. He didn't know how he would be able to return to his time and leave Salazar, a thought that had been on his mind for a long time.

"Harry, we learned all we could learn from the books. It's time to travel around the world, learn new things from new people," said Salazar softly. "There are some tribes who have their own magic, and only teach it to people whom they deem worthy. There are a lot of duelling tournaments we could enter and a lot of branches of magic to learn, as well as different and new techniques and styles of sword fighting."

Harry nodded his head in understanding. There are some things that are not written in books and are too dangerous to be written for fear of being used wrongly. In addition, some people preferred to teach their knowledge to only worthy people. He needed knowledge to be able to go back to his time and defeat Voldemort.

Thinking of Voldemort brought Harry's thoughts to his friends. He missed them very much and every day, he would wonder if they thought he was dead. He looked forward to, but dreaded the day he would be able to go back to his time. He hated the fact that he had to leave Salazar but knew that he must do it in order for Voldemort to be born.

"When do we leave?" asked Harry quietly, breaking the silence.

"We'll leave tonight."


	3. Chapter 3 Quest For Knowledge

Hello everyone! As you can see, I'm finally back, with another chapter. I apologize for the very long wait you all suffered, I'm a bad writer. Reviews do help though… Also, a fair warning about this chapter, not much is going to change from the original except maybe a few things, and the spelling and grammar. I did say I was going to come out with another chapter for this story before my other one.

Also, I wanted to say a very special thank you to FallForYourType for being my inspiration to get the next couple of chapters ready for this story and the other one as well.

Chapter 3: Quest for Knowledge

Another year and a half had passed as Harry and Salazar travelled around the world seeking knowledge. Their first stop was Egypt. It was well known that the ancient Egyptians were very knowledgeable magic users. Before they were to learn anything, Harry and Salazar were required to pass several difficult tests and go on several tasks in order for the respect of the Egyptian scholars to be earned.

Harry's hair had reached his shoulders and his body was much more defined than it had been. One of the tasks which Harry and Salazar had to go through was to assassinate an enemy of the pharaoh. Harry was hesitant to do it at first but when he heard the reasoning behind the enmity, it was easier to turn a blind eye and do the task. When they returned, they were welcomed by the pharaoh and rewarded with their training and some gold.

They had stayed for a month, learning how to apply and break wards from the Egyptians along with some blood rituals, which powered the wards, some Egyptian battle spells, and some slight necromancy. They learned how to summon skeletons fighters, banish them and to make them stand guard, but the Egyptians refused to teach them more than that, saying that it would do them no good to play with the forces of death.

They left Egypt more knowledgeable and skilled before heading for their next stop. It was a tribe in Roman territory who were very efficient with sword fighting. The only task that was required of them was to subdue two dragons that were threatening their tribe and killing its people. However since there was nobody brave enough to handle the two dragons, no one tried to go up against them.

The task was much harder and difficult since the dragons were almost resistant to all magic, but with the cunning of Harry and Salazar, they were able to kill both dragons by the help of some snakes that dwelled nearby and by their own sword skills. They spent time perfecting their sword fighting skills with the tribe until they could no longer teach them anything else.

Harry and Salazar started participating in duelling tournaments that were held in secluded locations, and managed to refine their duelling skills to admirable levels. They were held in a coliseum-like building where people came to witness superb duels, whether they were group or individual duels.

One of their stops was a coven of vampires to learn blood magic, since they were masters at this type of magic. It was a very powerful branch of magic and the two travellers wanted to delve in its wonders. However, the only problem was convincing the vampires to teach them blood magic, which was not easy.

Vampires had always thought themselves to be superior to humans, which left a huge task on Harry and Salazar's shoulders to convince the undead creatures to teach them their ways. It was after a lot of convincing that Salazar managed to strike a deal with the elder vampire upon which they would learn the magic.

The task was very hard since the vampires believed that no mortal should learn their blood magic. It was after a lot of exploiting of the weaknesses of the vampires that Salazar had managed to create a potion for them to make them able to reproduce.

It wasn't until the potion was created and tested, that the vampires agreed to teach them blood magic. It was a very powerful magic and a hard one to learn. They learned many uses for the blood magic and were lucky that Salazar managed to create the potion or they would have had to fight their way out of a vampire coven, which was a suicidal thing to do.

One of the hardest groups they had to satisfy was an assassin group called the Black Fang. They were the most skillful group of assassins around and were the masters of stealth, assassin techniques, and knife throwing. They were also the most brutal of all groups. Their test was to walk through a forest and find a house, take the knives that the people left there and return. On the way, one of the group assassins would try kill them, so it was to kill and learn what they had to offer or be killed and thrown to the wolves for food.

Both Salazar and Harry watched each other's back and managed to kill 12 members of the assassins before they succeeded in acquiring the knives and returning. The group agreed to teach them what they had to offer after Sal and Harry taught them some of their own skills. Both travellers had sometimes offered their services to some of the groups or individuals in exchange for money or food.

It was in the middle of their travelling year when something occurred that was a blessing to them. They were travelling to where a tribe that was skillful in magic control lived, when they passed a scene that made them turned red with rage.

They found two wizards torturing what it looked like a family of goblins while laughing hysterically. It made Harry flashback to the Death Eaters while Salazar thought of his family. Suddenly, Harry's and Salazar's wands were in their hands in a flash as one of the wizards was about to fire a killing curse at the goblin child.

"Expelliarmus," shouted both of them simultaneously, gaining the attention of the others. The power of the spells was so enormous that it knocked both wizards into a tree, killing them instantly. Salazar muttered what seemed like 'pity' before turning to the goblin family. He took three potions off his belt and gave them to the goblins.

"Drink this, it'll help you heal," said Salazar softly with the help of a translation spell. The goblin family drank the potions and rested for a few minutes. The father of the goblin family stood up shakily and went to Harry and Salazar, limping from tiredness.

"Thank you, wizards. My family is in debt to you," said the goblin, putting both hands on Harry and Salazar's foreheads. Both of them were glowing red for a few seconds until the goblin's hand left their foreheads, leaving both wizards confused.

"This is a gift for saving us. You will be able to understand and eventually speak my language, and learn some goblin magic, but not all of it as you are humans," said the goblin in gobbledygook but the wizards understood him perfectly.

They gasped when he told them that they would be able to learn a bit of goblin magic. They were the most powerful magic users when it came to defence magic. Their defences were nearly impossible to break and it would improve their defensive magic immensely.

The goblin took both of their hands and muttered something which left a small tattoo on their wrists in the form of a strange rune. They didn't know what the mark meant but were not concerned about the tattoo.

Their bodies were filled with tattoos back and front from every tribe or people they had learned an art from as almost a sign of graduation. There was a sphinx tattoo on their shoulders from the Egyptians, a bat tattoo on their chest from the vampires, a dragon with a sword in its claws from the tribe they had saved from dragons, a knife with a few red drops under it tattoo from the assassins which signified their training in assassination and now this rune tattoo from the goblin.

"Any goblin will come to your aid in a time of need if you show them this mark," said the goblin. The goblin also waved his hand, producing two books written in gobbledygook, one about the magic of the goblins and one about their language.

Salazar and Harry were stunned since goblins never gave away anything of theirs, whether it was magic or language books. To be trusted with this was an honour to them both and it showed on their glowing faces. The goblin family said goodbye and left as Salazar and Harry went on their way.

They arrived at a village somewhere in India and rested for a while before they began searching for the tribe. After eating and drinking, they rented two horses and proceeded out of the village to look for the tribe. They were riding on the horses when they heard someone crying, so they hurried towards the voice.

They found a man comforting a crying woman while some people around them wore grim, grief-stricken faces. Harry and Salazar approached them carefully and slowly with the horses and climbed down off the horses when they reached the tribes people.

"Is everything okay?" asked Harry curiously, looking at the man and woman in front of him. The man looked up at the two young men for a few seconds when suddenly rage and fury overcame him. He turned to them and shouted with rage, "YOU! YOU KIDNAPPED MY DAUGHTER YOU SICK DARK WIZARDS."

The man began to throw balls of energy at Harry and Salazar who dodged every ball of energy which would kill anything they came into contact with. Salazar paled and Harry understood what the man was upset and furious about. The man threw the energy balls in blind rage and it was a miracle, and pristine physical condition, that allowed them to dodge skillfully.

"STOP," yelled Harry. "We didn't kidnap your daughter, nor do we have any relations with the Slytherin family."

"We've just arrived and we mean you no harm," shouted Salazar before dodging another ball of energy heading towards him. The man finally stopped and sank to his knees, tears rolling down his face. Both Salazar and Harry were panting from dodging the fast energy balls, the blood rushing back to their face but thankfully, they weren't hurt.

"We've just arrived here and we mean you no harm," repeated Harry. "We have no relations with the Slytherin family other than the looks. Please believe us, we won't hurt you."

The man sat with his people, and Harry approached Salazar knowing exactly what was on his mind. They had left the Slytherin family in England so it was a surprise that someone from the Slytherin family would travel to India.

"What are they doing here?" asked Salazar quietly "We left them in England a year ago, what business do they have here?"

"I don't know, Salazar. But what I know is that we won't sit around while someone innocent is being tortured. We also need their training and it's the right thing to do. Are you with me, brother?" Harry extended his hand.

Salazar grinned, "You're on."

Both men approached the man, who was sitting with his wife and family, and bowed respectfully. They had learned that they had to bow to any tribe leader for respect before saying a word. The man nodded back stiffly and motioned for the two wizards to talk.

"We will bring your daughter back in exchange for food, shelter, and knowledge," said Salazar formally. He knew that Harry would go anyway, whether they had food or not, but he knew that they had to reach an agreement with the tribe leader if they ever wanted to learn their magic.

The man nodded his head and replied, "Bring my daughter back and you will get what you want, wizards."

Harry and Salazar learned the directions for the kidnapper's location, and the name of the daughter, Ania. They then proceeded to find whoever kidnapped the leader's daughter. Salazar was sure that it was Thanatos, his brother, who kidnapped the daughter of the tribe's chief, but as the Slytherin family was huge, they couldn't know for sure. They rode their horses around for a few days, looking for a place where the kidnapper would be residing when they finally reached a mansion.

"Harry, you bring down the wards and I will take care of any traps or guards," said Salazar urgently.

Salazar sneaked stealthily up to the guards and killed them with knives, leaving Harry free to do his work. On the other side of the mansion, Harry closed his eyes and began to feel the wards around the mansion, trying to decipher which ones were linked to the house itself and which ones were linked to the house owner.

It was impossible to bring down the wards that were linked with the mansion's owner without alerting him so he decided on doing this mission as stealthily as possible. He brought down the anti-apparation wards and some defensive wards linked to the house itself, and then proceeded to confuse the wards that were linked to the owner, so that it would think they were animals.

As he finished his work, he panted heavily from the excess use of magic. He felt dizzy as it took vast amounts of magical power to bring down wards of a mansion of this size alone, not to mention it was not easy to stealthily bring them down.

He took out a vial of energizing potion which would give him energy for a few hours, this was essential in order to complete their mission. Harry was sneaking inside the walls when he saw a basilisk lying lazily on the floor. He readied his wand and sword to attack when the basilisk hissed at him.

"_Master Slytherin gave you permission to enter. Precede, wizard."_

Harry was stunned that Salazar was able to convince the basilisk to let them enter but hissed his thanks and proceeded inside the mansion. He caught up with Salazar, who was disabling an alarm on a passageway that lead to the dungeons. Harry nodded to him, indicating that he did as planned and began to help Salazar disable the traps and alarms. Unfortunately, things were not meant to be as a voice came from behind them.

"What do we have here?" said a cold voice, making them both turn. Harry was trying to know who the man was with legilimency when Salazar spoke hissing coldly and sneering.

"Hello dear brother. How is the family?"

"Salazar, the black sheep of our family and my dear baby brother," said Thanatos Slytherin, a taunting sneer plastered across his face. Harry took the opportunity to sneak into the dungeons, disabling some traps in his way before he reached the holding cell.

He found a couple of dead bodies in a cell and an almost dead one in another. He approached the barely living figure and whispered, "Ania?"

The girl looked about 15 years old and had apparently been tortured mercilessly. Ania nodded with tears in her eyes, and Harry took out his wand. He began throwing every curse-breaking spell he'd learned, trying to bring the spells and wards on the door down. It took Harry around ten minutes of continuous casting to finally bring the wards on the door down and opened it with a simple 'Alohamora'

He entered the cell and carried Ania in his arms, giving her the healing potions that Salazar had supplied him with, one after the other. After making sure that the girl was not near death anymore, he carried her and searched for a way out. He found none so he sighed and walked the way he came in from, hoping that Salazar was okay.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he found Salazar locked in a duel his brother and another wizard who Harry assumed was the mansion owner. Harry settled Ania down and took out his wand, joining the duel, and sending curses and hexes towards the mansion owner, leaving Salazar to duel his brother.

Harry proceeded to duel, sending various curses very quickly, and dodging anything that returned at him. Since he was exhausted already, Harry decided to end his duel as quick as possible. He summoned the man to him, making him fly very quickly into an effective sword strike, essentially separating the man in two.

Salazar took advantage of Thanatos' distraction when the mansion owner was defeated and disarmed him. He proceeded to walk towards his brother and pointed his wand at him.

"_Avada Ked…," _hissed Salazar but Harry took hold of Salazar's wand before he completed the killing curse.

"No Salazar, don't kill him," said Harry firmly. Salazar glared at him but lowered his wand. Harry flicked his wand and ropes appeared and wrapped themselves around Thanatos, binding him completely.

"Why didn't you let me kill him?" Salazar said coldly, glaring at Harry. Harry returned the glare full force and replied in the same tone.

"There was no use Salazar, he was disarmed and weak."

Harry went back to Ania, carried her up in his arms again, and proceeded outside. Salazar followed him, still furious that he had lost the chance to kill his brother. They rode for a day then camped to regain their strength before continuing their journey.

They arrived at the tribe's chief's hut and were welcomed with a cheer of joy at the sight of the chief's daughter alive. The mother cried as she held her daughter in her arms while the tribe leader bowed and shook their hands with a big smile on his face.

"Thank you, wizards. You are welcome to stay and learn our magic, for you are certainly worthy of it," said the tribe chief and invited them for dinner. Harry and Salazar did not talk to each other for a week because of what happened in the mansion.

Salazar was still fuming that Harry had stopped him from killing one of his family members who caused him pain and misery. Harry was equally furious that Salazar wanted to kill an unarmed man who happened to be his brother, even though he was an evil wizard. It was only after a week that Salazar finally apologized and the two were fine with each other again.

They spent a month and a half with the tribe; their leader taught Harry and Salazar how to control their magic and manipulate it. Unfortunately, they could only learn the techniques on how to begin taking control of their magic and pushing it outside their body with enough manipulation. The process had to be practiced until the user gained control over his magic, which was not something to be taught.

Salazar was taught a few potions from some of the people of the village. After a month and a half, their stay ended. They acquired a tattoo, a staff with a snake wrapped around it with its head resting on the head of the magnificent cane.

They travelled for weeks, learning random spells and potions from people they meet, doing arbitrary jobs here and there. They gathered a lot of gold from some of the tasks and jobs they performed for tribes or people they met during their trip.

They went to a very well known tribe in Greece, which was famous for their bond with animals. They welcomed Harry and Salazar into their tribe after they learned that both wizards were snake-speakers. The tribe cherished animals, took care of them, and learned about them and their magic. Harry and Salazar stayed with the tribe for a month, learning about various animals and their nature.

They were taught a different form of being an animagus. Instead of forcing your inner animal to change you into your destined form, a real animal would choose the wizard, become one with the wizard by bonding with them and then the wizard would gain the animagus form of said animal.

The animagus transformations in the future depended on the wizard changing by his inner animal, thus gaining no characteristics of the chosen animal but just its form. After a month of practicing their magic and learning about the animals, Harry and Salazar left the tribes equipped with a new magic that would help them in their future and the tattoos of their forms on their backs.

Their last stop was a village in Scotland. It was the name of the village that told Harry that their trip was ending. They settled in an inn, resting from their long trip from Greece. Their journey of knowledge was a huge success as they gathered important knowledge from some very stubborn people.

They were eating breakfast together when they heard two witches and a wizard about their age (around 18-19) talking at the table next to them. They were talking about a topic that made Salazar's face light up and excited Harry a little. They were talking about building a school to help gifted children learn magic.

Due to Salazar's excitement, his aura flared around him but not visibly. Only an aura reader would be able to see an aura of a wizard, which is why when Salazar's massive aura flared, one of the witches sitting at the next table cried out in agony caused by the massive light that attacked her eyes. The eyes of an aura reader were usually very sensitive to bright lights.

"Salazar," said Harry warningly, "calm down, there is an aura reader here, and your aura isn't helping." Salazar calmed down immediately and kept a tight leash on his aura, making the witch sigh in relief from the lack of pain. They went to the two witches and the wizard and Salazar gave a pain-relieving potion to the girl.

"I'm sorry about my aura. I was excited about something and usually when I get excited, I tend to release it," said Salazar sincerely.

The pretty girl who was in pain moments ago smiled kindly at him and replied, "It was my fault. I thought that since the place wasn't crowded, I could afford not to restrain my gift. I'm Helga Hufflepuff by the way."

They shook hands and Helga invited them to sit at their table. Helga had blond hair, light blue eyes and a lithe body. Harry grabbed their things and sat down, excitement filling him at the prospect of meeting the future founders of Hogwarts. Salazar was the first to speak. "My name is Salazar Slytherin and this is my best friend Harry."

"I'm Rowena Ravenclaw, it's nice to meet you both," said Rowena with a grin, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She was a very beautiful girl; she had midnight black hair, greyish blue eyes, and a lean body.

The other wizard introduced himself as well. He was very well built, with dark red hair and brown eyes. "I'm Godric Gryffindor. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I couldn't help but overhear you talk about wanting to build a school, which was what made me excited by the way. I've always wanted to build a school for children to learn magic instead of apprenticing or learning from their _family,_" said Salazar, pronouncing the last part with a bitter tone, which went unnoticed by all except Harry.

"The only problem is the lack of land and magical skill. Between the five of us, the magical skill problem is solved. However, where can we find a land to build the school on?" asked Godric thoughtfully. Harry thought that he could ease the process of looking for a land for them and replied. "There is a large piece of land not far from here. We could purchase it and build the school on it."

"But that land would cost a lot of money, and we don't have much of that either," said Rowena with a sigh.

Salazar leaned over and spoke softly in Harry's ear. "How did you know where the land would be, Harry?"

Harry glared at Salazar for daring to say such a thing with the other people sitting beside them but he still replied, whispering softly. "This is one of the things that I told you I can't tell you about, Salazar."

Sal's eyes widened at what Harry was implying but smiled fully, earning himself confused looks from the other three. He looked at them and replied, "We have enough money to buy the land where the school will be built." The eyes of the other three widened but grinned at each other.

They finished their lunch and went to the property owner to see about the land being bought. It was a strange moment for Harry, seeing the lake, forest and Hogsmeade but no castle. After a lot of convincing and bargaining, the man finally decided to sell them the land with money, which cost just over half of all of Salazar and Harry's money. Thus, the five teens began the plan to build the school that would one day be Harry's favourite home in one thousand years.

A/N: Make sure to review, constructive reviews are nice; they help me know I'm doing a good job or need to work harder, so let me know your opinions.

This is HP-DG-SB signing off… for now.


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